Gen. John Allen, bowed out Tuesday and announced his intention to retire for what he called personal reasons, but was really all about his entanglement with the Gen. David Petraeus/Paula Broadwell scandal.
February 20, 2013

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Paul Broadwell's attachment to Gen. David Petraeus has now taken another casualty in its wake: Gen. John Allen.

President Barack Obama is looking for a new candidate to lead American and allied forces in Europe after his first choice, Marine Gen. John Allen, bowed out Tuesday and announced his intention to retire for what he called personal reasons.

After meeting with Allen at the White House, the president issued a brief statement praising Allen's service. He called the 57-year-old Allen "one of America's finest military leaders, a true patriot, and a man I have come to respect greatly."

This story didn't get much attention yesterday because all the Beltway deficit scolds were carrying on about the big bad Sequester. If you've forgotten about Jill Kelly, here's a quick refresher:

This is the woman who complained to the FBI about harassing emails from the mistress of Gen David Petraeus. Jill Kelley, 37, of Tampa, Florida, is an unpaid social liaison officer to military headquarters in the city and has a longstanding friendship with Petraeus, who quit as CIA director in disgrace last week.

Mrs Kelley lives in a $1.3 million house with her husband Scott, a surgeon, and their three children, age nine, seven and six.She packed her bags and sped away from her lavish home on Sunday night after national news media descended on her upscale neighborhood.

Mrs Kelley told agents that Paula Broadwell, the 40-year-old biographer who has been identified as the ex-CIA boss' mistress, sent her harassing emails telling her to 'back off' Petraeus.

An online picture album posted by the family talks about meeting Gen. Petraeus at the family's home.'We and our family have been friends with Gen Petraeus and his family for over five years. We respect his and his family's privacy and want the same for us and our three children,' she said in a statement on Sunday.

When the story about the Petraeus affair with Broadwell broke, many Benghazi conspiracy nuts in the GOP went ballistic, but their Bircher fantasies were quickly doused as more info about their affair became public. They not only lost a cherished military hero, but a potential 2016 presidential candidate as well. Allen's loss is a significant blow to the military high command, and even though the general was cleared of any wrongdoing in the Petraeus fiasco, he opted not to be fodder for a Senate confirmation hearing. You know he watched the lunatic Republican Sen. Ted Cruz go all Joe McCarthy on Chuck Hagel's ass because he had the audacity of being nominated by Obama, so why should he suffer the fools?

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